


you must be strong

by surexit



Category: Shelter (2007)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 07:19:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surexit/pseuds/surexit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cody misses his mom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you must be strong

Cody gets sick the first week they’re in LA. It’s just a cold at first, and Zach doesn’t really note his red eyes and runny nose, too busy drowning in paperwork. There’s paperwork for CalArts, so much, proving his scholarship status and sending triplicate copies of every document that’s ever been issued to him and enrolling on the courses that he wants, and there’s paperwork for Cody, so much, school and doctor and health insurance and custody transfer and all the millions of bits and pieces that come from suddenly acquiring a child. And when he’s not drowning in paperwork, he’s moving furniture and trying to make Shaun’s new place less bachelor pad and more kid-friendly.

He looks up from a CalArts form suddenly one night, five days into his new life, because he can hear Cody crying. Not angry crying or traumatised crying, but miserable, tired crying, the kind of crying that sounds like a child has given up all hope. He’s on his feet before he has the conscious thought, heading to the doorway of Cody’s bedroom. Shaun’s there before him. They hesitate on the threshold, looking at each other. Inside the bedroom, Cody is saying, “Mommy mommy mommy,” to himself, over and over, voice catching between small sobs. Zach’s heart drops dizzyingly.

Shaun looks at him for a second, and then says softly, “Want me to field this one?”

Zach shakes his head mutely. This particular pain is between him and Cody, and it will be for a while. He takes a breath and nudges the door open. “Cody?” he says. “Hey, Codes.” Behind him, he can feel the empty space as Shaun steps back.

The room is dim, lit by two nightlights, and Cody is curled into a tight ball in the middle of his overbig bed. There are new toys strewn over the floor - Cody and Shaun had had a field day at Toys’R’Us the day before yesterday, and Shaun had determinedly ignored Zach’s protests - and Zach swears as he almost trips over a fire truck. “Codes,” he says again. “Hey buddy, what’s up?” He reaches the edge of the bed and sits down, reaching to pat Cody’s back. He’s hot and damp, and as Zach touches him he rolls over to look up at Zach, face red and creased and covered with snot and tears. His eyes are glassy.

“I don’t feel well,” he says, the last word spiralling into a hitching whine. “I want Jeanne. I want Mommy. Call her!”

“She can’t come back tonight, Codes.” Zach says. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well, buddy. Can I feel your -” He touches Cody’s forehead. It’s warm, but not burning. Zach tries not to panic.

“Call Mommy,” Cody says again, but it’s in a dispirited tone. He sounds like he knows that nothing will come of it, and Zach swallows hard. “Please.”

Zach looks at his watch. It’s 11.30 on a Friday night, and he knows that Jeannie won’t be in any kind of state to talk to Cody on the phone. “How about we call her tomorrow, hey?” he says, his tone dropping to a murmur. He runs a hand down to Cody’s chest and traces wide circles there, feeling it shake under his hand as Cody cries. “We’ll call Mommy tomorrow and you can tell her about your new toys again?”

Cody doesn’t even seem to hear him. “Come on, come on,” Zach says, trying not to let his voice shake. “And you’ll see her soon, she’ll come for a visit. It’s okay, buddy, it’s okay.”

In the end, he’s in there for twenty minutes before Cody finally cries himself to sleep, sobs dropping to whimpers and then to uneven breathing and then finally, finally, evening out. He emerges from the room to find Shaun hovering outside the doorway, face creased.

“Hey,” Shaun whispers, and reaches out to tug Zach closer. “Hey, you okay? Is he okay?”

Zach leans into him gratefully, sliding an arm around Shaun’s waist. “I don’t know,” he says, voice tight. “I think he’s okay. I’ll take him to the doctor tomorrow morning.”

“Hey, no, I can do that. You’ve got orientation.”

Zach shakes his head mutely. “I’ll do it.”

“Honestly, it’s not a pro-”

“ _I’ll_ do it.” Zach hears his own voice, how tense it sounds even as a whisper. Shaun leans back a little, looks at his face, strokes a finger down his cheek.

“Okay,” he murmurs after a second. “You do it.”

“Yeah,” Zach says. “Thank you.” He leans up for the briefest of kisses, just a soft nudge of their mouths. “I’m sure he’ll be okay.”


End file.
